Disclosure: I received compensation for this post from the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) via Global Influence Blogger's Network. All opinions, as always, are my own.
Now that summer is finally here, one of my family's favorite thing to do is make homemade ice cream. There is something about homemade ice cream -- even in simple vanilla -- that just screams summer to me.
The refrigerated dairy aisle has nearly … [Read more...]

With Hurricane Sandy approaching the Northeast today, many people are bracing for a day or more without power.
If you are like me and have a substantial stockpile of food in your freezer, here are some helpful tips to preserve everything as long as possible:
A Full Freezer is a Cold Freezer. A full freezer will stay below 40 degrees for 48 hours, provided you DON'T OPEN IT.
If your freezer is only half full, you only have 24 hours to … [Read more...]

I won't lie, we eat healthy in our house, but that includes plenty of hearty meals that include meat. While I try to schedule plenty of meat-free meals in my weekly meal plan, my husband and kids love a good meatloaf.
Not so much fun? The 90 minute cooking time that it takes for a regular meatlof.
I love this recipe because it shaves about 60 minutes off the cooking time of regular meatloaf, and it comes in pre-portioned serving sizes. Plus, … [Read more...]

A friend of mine posted a picture of her family picking strawberries today, which immediately made me think of one thing -- canning! So I did a little sleuthing and found some deals on canning equipment if you need to replenish your supplies or are starting from scratch!
Presto 7 Function Canning Kit -- $14.74
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - $12.47
Ball Home Canning Discovery Kit (good for beginners!)- $10.47
Ball … [Read more...]

Recently, I had the unfortunate experience of having one of my children admitted to the hospital. I won't give you too many of the gory details, but basically my 2 year old was afflicted with a horrendous, yet common, virus that left her dangerously dehydrated in a relatively short period of time. We were admitted to the hospital so she could receive IV fluids until her levels came up.
When we realized we were getting admitted, there was a … [Read more...]

When I wrote earlier this week about how to make chicken broth from a whole chicken, I promised I would include some recipes for how to use the actual chicken meat to last several meals.
To recap, I purchased one organic chicken for $3.49/lb. It cost me $12.56 (I had a $1 off Wegmans Organic Chicken coupon that I used). I already made 2 large canning jars worth of broth, so I had to come up with ways to make that $12 chicken last as long as … [Read more...]

It’s funny how, when you put an idea out there -- into the vast wide universe -- it comes back to you. Not to get all hippy-dippy, but this weekend I was thinking about making some beautiful fresh homemade salsa with a few leftover tomatillos I had, and later that day, my brother-in-law offered me all the tomatoes I could pick from his garden. Score!
I had to use these up, and I knew I had more than one serving’s worth of salsa here, so I … [Read more...]

Zucchini is still going strong in our CSA boxes lately. I feel like I've tried every preparation of zucchini that I can think of:
Zucchini Chips
Zucchini Corn Cakes
Zucchini in a Salad
Broiled Zucchini as a Side
Zucchini Chocolate Muffins
Oven Roasted Zucchini
Zucchini Muffins with Struedel Topping
Zucchini Boats
I've done sweet, savory, side, main, and everything in between, it seems! But I'm not done yet!
I had an … [Read more...]

Alright, I've decided to go through with this crazy idea of cooking and freezer an entire month's meals; I've planned out my menu; now I just need to figure out HOW exactly I am going to pull this off. Tomorrow (Sunday) is the big day.Here's my plan:1. The night before: Make Slow Cooker Lasagna and Brown Sugar Chicken. Put both in slow cooker (I have 2) and go to bed. Defrost cheese, spinach, chicken, and ground beef.2. Hour … [Read more...]

Photo Credit: Southern LivingIn case you missed it, go here to read about my plan for a major freezer cooking extravaganza. To review, these are the basic ingredients in my pantry I'd like to work with: Eden Organics Garbanzo beans (bought on special at Amazon)Cream of Chicken Soup ( $.50/can at Target a few months ago)Barbecue Sauce (FREE at Target)Salad Dressing/Marinade ($.39 each at Target and FREE at Tops)Chicken … [Read more...]

So, I've been wanting to do some freezer cooking for a while, to free up some time during the week and generally make life easier. Then I thought, wouldn't it be great if I was able to use what's in my pantry stockpile currently to do the freezer cooking? I could save even more money! I liked the sound of that idea so much, I thought, what if I was able to use my slow cooker for much (if not all) of this cooking extravaganza? This … [Read more...]